Ukraine’s scrap exports grew by a factor of 78 in November

According to the customs statistics, in November 2021, Ukrainian mining & metals companies increased scrap exports by a factor of 78.5 to 44 thousand tons y-o-y. Scrap export revenues grew by a factor of 45.9 to $16.2 million.

In January–November 2021, Ukraine’s revenues from scrap exports hiked by a factor of 24.8 to $211.9 million y-o-y.

In 11M 2021, scrap collectors exported 547.2 thousand tons, which is by a factor of 16.6 more than in the same period of 2020.

The main export market for Ukraine’s scrap is Turkey (84.8%). The share of Romania in the total exports of Ukrainian scrap in 11M was 7.5%. Poland ranked third (3.7%).

In 11M, Ukraine’s imports of raw materials grew by 1.3% to 21.3 thousand tons y-o-y. In monetary terms, imports grew by 87.7% to $40.9 million. Scrap was mainly imported from Turkey (60.4%), Russia (33%) and Poland (3.4%).

As GMK Center reported earlier, a new scrap export duty of €180/t has been officially introduced in Ukraine.

At a parliamentary meeting on 2 December, 242 MPs voted in favor of a hike in the scrap export duty. Prior to that, the Ministry of Economy had developed and submitted for consideration to the Cabinet of Ministers a draft law on increasing the export duty to €200/t. However, on 10 November, the Cabinet returned this document to the Ministry of Economy.

Since mid-year, steel producers have advocated a ban on scrap exports until 2023 to maintain sustainable operations of Ukrainian companies. In turn, associations of scrap collectors opposed the initiative. Particularly, UAVtormet insisted on an objective examination of the ban’s implications for the scrap collection market.

Over the past few years, Ukraine has been applying a scrap export duty of €58/t. In May 2021, President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, signed the Law No. 1419-IX to extend the applicable scrap export duty for another five years, until 15 September 2026.

It’s worth reminding that in 2020, Ukraine reduced scrap exports by 15% to 35.8 thousand tons compared to 2019. Revenues from exports of raw materials dropped by 19.4% to $9.5 million. Ukraine’s key export markets were Turkey (85.88%), the Netherlands (6.27%) and Germany (5.37%).